An inkjet printer is generally known as a liquid ejection apparatus that ejects liquid, which is ink, onto a target from nozzle openings defined in a nozzle surface of a recording head. The printer wipes off ink from the nozzle surface using a wiper as a part of maintenance operation performed on the recording head. Such wiping may cause variation in the meniscus of the ink in the nozzle openings. Further, if the amount of ink ejected for printing by a certain one of the nozzle openings is relatively small compared to those of the other openings, the viscosity of the ink may increase in that nozzle opening, thus clogging the nozzle opening. To prevent the variation in the meniscuses of the ink in the nozzle openings and suppress nozzle clogging, flushing, or forcible ink ejection, is preformed on the nozzle openings by the printer in response to a drive signal unrelated to printing. The ejected ink is received in a flushing box that is shaped like a box with a closed bottom, or a liquid receiver. As described in JP-A-2002-86762, in flushing, the flushing box is arranged in a flushing area opposed to a cap member, which seals the nozzle surface of the recording head in cleaning, with a printing area arranged between the flushing area and the cap member.
After having been discharged from the nozzle openings of the recording head into the flushing box, the ink is normally absorbed in and retained by an ink absorbing material accommodated in the flushing box. However, since various types of ink are now used, there may be cases in which the ink containing solvent that easily evaporates, such as pigment ink, is employed. In these cases, the ink solidifies through evaporation of the solvent and thus clogs pores of the ink absorbing material or deposits on the ink absorbing material. To suppress such evaporation of the ink, JP-A-2002-86759, for example, proposes a printer in which an opening of a flushing box is closed by a lid body when flushing is not performed.
Specifically, in the printer of JP-A-2002-86759, the flushing box has an upper opening and is provided in a fixed state in the flushing area, as in the printer of JP-A-2002-86762. Further, the printer of JP-A-2002-86759 includes a lid body arranged on the opening of the flushing box. The lid body is slidable between a closing position at which the lid body closes the opening of the flushing box and a non-closing position spaced sideways from the closing position. When the lid body is located at the non-closing position, the opening of the flushing box is maintained in an open state. The lid body is normally maintained at the closing position by the urging force of a spring member. When a carriage carrying a recording head is arranged above the flushing box, a portion of the carriage contacts the lid body. The carriage thus urges the lid body to move from the closing position to the non-closing position against the urging force of the spring member. This opens the opening of the flushing box.
The printer of JP-A-2002-86762 and the printer of JP-A-2002-86759 each have the flushing area, in which the flushing box is fixed, at the position opposed to the cap member with the printing area located between the flushing area and the cap member. This increases the dimension of each of the printers as a while in the movement direction of the carriage by the margin corresponding to the space occupied by flushing area. The printers thus do not satisfy a need for saving space in the printers.
Also, in the printer of JP-A-2002-86759, which suppresses evaporation of the ink from the flushing box, the carriage is moved from the printing area to the flushing area in order to perform flushing. The carriage then presses the lid body separately from the printing area. This further increases the dimension of the printer as a whole in the movement direction of the carriage by the margin corresponding to the distance covered by the movement of the lid body.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a liquid ejection apparatus that saves space while suppressing evaporation of liquid from a liquid receiver that receives the liquid ejected from a nozzle opening of a liquid ejection head as waste liquid.